10 Candidates for WOLVERINE's Post-Schism X-MEN Team

Thursday saw news that following this summer's <i>X-Men: Schism</i> miniseries depicting a major philosophical split between Cyclops and Wolverine the X-Men will divide into two camps in a move <a href=http://www.newsarama.com/comics/october-x-men-regenesis-110616.html>Marvel is dubbing "X-Men: Regenesis</a>."
<p>One team, debuting in November's <i>Uncanny X-Men #1</i>, will presumably be led by Cyclops, with early interviews indicating that it'll be a very public and very powerful squad. The other is coming in October's <b>Wolverine & The X-Men</b>, and we don't know quite as much about their direction, other than that it most likely involves Wolverine and, as <a href=http://www.newsarama.com/comics/x-men-regenesis-alonso-lowe-110616.html>Marvel senior editor Nick Lowe tells us</a>, one team going public doesn't mean that Wolverine is going underground.
<p>Recently, we submitted <a href=http://www.newsarama.com/comics/top-10-new-uncanny-team-members-110616.html>10 picks for who would make sense on the <b>Uncanny X-Men</b> roster</a>, and now we're giving our best guesses as to the characters that might be joining Wolverine this fall.
<p>Click the "start here" button for our 10 picks on what the <b>Wolverine & The X-Men</b> group might look like come October.
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WOLVERINE (obviously)

Comic books have been known to pull some pretty shrewd marketing tricks over the years, but we're relatively confident that a series titled <b>Wolverine & The X-Men</b> will indeed have Wolverine in it. (No promises, though.)

EMMA FROST

In a Marvel.com article, <b>Wolverine & The X-Men</b> writer Jason Aaron said that the <i>X-Men: Schism</i> split would be "bad enough to split lovers," and there's no romantic divide that would cause deeper drama than one between Cyclops and Emma Frost.
<p>Their relationship has lasted longer than most would expect, with Scott and Emma becoming the two pillars of the current Marvel mutant status quo on Utopia all perfect reasons to tear it down in <i>X-Men: Schism</i>, and show true consequences of the conflict between Wolverine and Cyclops.

BEAST

Beast has already had his own schism with Scott Summers, leaving the X-Men due to his distaste over several issues, including the existence of X-Force. Things only got worse after Nightcrawler's death in "Second Coming," with Beast returning to the Avengers as part of the Steve Rogers' <i>Secret Avengers</i> cast.
<p>Hank hasn't strayed too far from his X-Men roots, though, appearing as part of the team in Christos Gage's current <i>Astonishing X-Men</i> arc. Combine that with the fact that he's remained close with Wolverine he was even at the dude's birthday party in <i>Wolverine #5.1</i> his inclusion here is a no-brainer.

JUBILEE

A couple of these picks are of the "whoa, I can't believe this character would actually side with Wolverine!" nature, but this one is just logical.
<p>Jubilee is one of several "young females that Wolverine has mentored," and for many children of the '90s, the most prominent. Their relationship was recently explored and reestablished in the well-received <i>Wolverine & Jubilee</i> miniseries, and it would be a shame to abandon the work done there. Plus, Jubilee's a vampire now, so that might help sell some books. (We could also see X-23 in this role, but she's got her own solo book, and for the purpose of this list we're sticking to one claw-popping hero a team.)

HAVOK

Alex Summers has always kept his distance from his brother. He led X-Factor in the '90s when Scott was busy with the X-Men, and they've come to blows on several occasions. (Just look at the cover of <i>Uncanny X-Men #97</i>. Or <i>Uncanny #339</i>. And so on.) So with Havok surfacing from limbo in an upcoming <i>X-Men: Legacy</i> arc, if he does find his way back to Earth (seemingly a pretty good bet), don't look for him to be anywhere near his older brother's side.
<p>Plus, Havok and Wolverine are established buddies, and starred in the memorable Marvel miniseries <i>Meltdown</i>.

ROGUE

Rogue and Cyclops have had their differences for a while now, starting with Scott's disapproval over Rogue's X-Men team that included Sabretooth, Lady Mastermind and Mystique (we can kind of see Cyclops' point on that one). Post-"Second Coming," Cyclops went as far as suspending Rogue from active duty.
<p>How long can Rogue be expected to put with all of that paternal nonsense? It's been apparent for a while that she's angling to jump ship at the earliest opportunity, and it looks like <i>Schism</i> will give her that chance.

MAGNETO

OK, sure, Magneto once ripped out Wolverine's adamantium skeleton. And, yeah, Wolverine once decapitated Magneto well, it was revealed later to not actually be Magneto, but he definitely thought it was at the time. But a shake-up like this is bound to have some surprising alliances, right?
<p>The expected thing would be to have Magneto on Cyclops' team, given how close they've become in recent years. But based on all the interviews we've seen, <i>Schism</i> isn't about what's doing expected, and if Cyclops is going to make his team more public than ever, would having Magneto on the roster really be a smart move? Plus, given recent developments in <i>X-Men: Legacy</i>, we're guessing that Magneto's going where Rogue's going.

PROFESSOR X

Xavier was a father figure to Cyclops for years, but after the details of <i>X-Men: Deadly Genesis</i> came out, Scott effectively told his "dad" to go fly a kite. (OK, he was probably a little harsher than that.) Things have gotten a bit friendlier between the two as of late, but it's nothing like their past dynamic, and it seems inevitable that one will just ditch the other for good.
<p>Also, let's face it: The most fun parts of <i>X-Men: First Class</i> were when Magneto and Xavier were palling around, and now that they're on the same side again in the comic books, why not keep that momentum going a little bit?

X-MAN

Given his reappearance in the <I>Dark X-Men</i> miniseries and involvement in the current <i>New Mutants</i> arc, it's clear that Marvel has plans for Nate Grey. And despite being called, y'know, "X-Man," he's actually never really been an X-Men for an extended period of time, and having a new-ish face in the lineup would go a long way in cementing that "X-Men: Regenesis" isn't just more of the same.
<p>Why would he side with Wolverine over Cyclops, his alternate reality test tube father? Well, the <i>Uncanny</i> team is set to be the visible, superhero team, and that doesn't really sound like X-Man's jam. Wolverine and Nate don't have much of an established rapport, but with Logan's current trip to Age of Apocalypse in <i>Uncanny X-Force</i>, at least they'll have something to talk about.

JEAN GREY

Yes, Jean Grey was <a href=http://www.newsarama.com/comics/top-10-new-uncanny-team-members-110616.html>also our top pick for the <i>Uncanny X-Men</i> list</a>. And the reasons that she would make a shocking yet fitting member of that team also apply here, but in reverse: While it would be a huge blow to Wolverine to see Jean return from the dead and join up with Cyclops, Scott would be apoplectic to see his long-time love show up again only to take Logan's side. Jean Grey has always been the biggest factor dividing Wolverine and Cyclops, and her returning to the comics would certainly go a long way in raising the <i>Schism</i> stakes.
<p>Besides, though it's admirable that Marvel has stuck to their guns for this long, isn't it simply time for Jean Grey to come back? Steve Rogers has died and come back (and Bucky did the opposite) since Jean died in <i>New X-Men</i> back in late 2003.
<p>Also, after more than seven years of Cyclops and Emma Frost, maybe it's time to finally see some payoff to decades of Wolverine/Jean unresolved sexual tension? In the Marvel.com piece, Jason Aaron did promise "intense character drama, love, sex," and that would certainly qualify.